Locking device for filing apparatus.



Patented June 17, 1913.

. fl A efz n \0 r///// 1 w J. A. BEST. LOOKING DEVICE FOR FILING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 27,1912.

t 5 lll WITNESSES I cards within the holder forming part of a,

p getherwithcards having-meanswhereby to, engage .the saidsupporting' member or mem- "UNITE STATES.

JOHN; esne an AUGUSTA; an n-eras Locnmennwen m Fume niaranms;

- Specification ofletters Patent; PatentedJuhB' f m 'i mam d 1mm. 19.12... s al-m- .9 1

Tocllwliamitmay concemai l 3e.i t known-that I, J OHN Ansum BEST, a citizen of the United- States, and a. residentof Augusta, in; the. count-y of, Richmond and State of. Georgia, have. invented; a, new and useful- Improvement in, Locking. De ices for Filing. Apparatus, of which the following is a specification,

present invention relates generally to means fon locking. the record and: index filing apparatus, andmore particularly to a locking.- device which will bet'adaptable to.

bersin'a non-alinedseries wherein a. facial2 portion of each card is exposedalong certain of the edges of the next succeeding card in front thereof. t

The object of my. present invention is 'therefore'to provide a locking-device by the a use ofwhich one or anumber of non-alin'edseries of cards may be locked against accidental. displacement or removal by .unau thorized persons.

With this inniind, my invention resides in the features of construction and arrangethe'accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, and in which,

Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view throughv a filing apparatus embodyi my present invention; Fig. 2' is a longitu inal section therethrough; Fig.3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, illustrating the use of'a pair of locking rods; and Fig. dis a detail perspective viewillustrating the means for locking and releasing one ofthe locking'rods.

Referring now to these figures, the holder with which my invention isto'be associated may comprise a front piece A and a rear iece A, between and through which extend ongitudinal card supporting members, these members being either in the form of sheetmetal ribs (1 or rods a, at least one ofthe.

former being preferable in case any considerable weight is to be su ported, in view of the=fact that rods are 'Eely to. sag, and at least one rod being preferably at a central inent to be herein described with respect to.

point in-order-that it may. passithroughlthe; 5

usual. follower B and form av support upon which the said follower is. movable between the ends A and A of the holder.

Each of the. cards Ceinployed islsubstan w;

tially rectangular in form, one corner; being cut obliquely as indicated at 0 andoneeed-ger' being provided with. a. plurality; of'equidiseg tantly. spaced recesses 0', these recesses. being-$-- adaptedg to' permit of selected engagement of the cardsG' upon their supporting members? a and-a, as clearly shown in- Fig. L Whereby' the cards may be disposed in a, nonal ned-j series, as also plainlyindicated, wherein a facial portion of each card is exposed; filbilgycertain of the edges. of-the nextsueceeding data. whereby theicards .are distinguished. In. providing a-simple and efiective lock- 1 card in front thereof, such exposed PQI'tiQIl-z. I .beingfor the. reception of names. or other.

whereby. the cards in the positionjustde scribed may be securely held-againstaceldental displacement and unwarranted: 1'6? moval, I provide eacl1 ,of.the -cards Crwitha series oftopenin'gs c which are spaced apart a distance. equal to the spacesbetween-the I card's recesses c'-, and are arranged in; a-tlinei paralleltothe recessededge of thecard, one;

of. saidopenings. 0. being arranged. adj acent and in line with each' one of the card recesses" c The1front...and rear portions and' A: .of. the holder are provided with openings through which extends a locln'ng I '7 rod D, said rod being provided with an angularly bent rear end d, at the rear face of .the holder portion A, v being provided with a circular-slot 'd -wh1ch, in the operative position "of the: rod D, extends within a cut-out portion a? in the front and its forward end I face of the holder portion A and whichsurrounds its opening. through which sa d lock ing rod extends. v p p I Pivoted at one endwithin'the cut-out portion a of the. holder is a locking bar E, the pivotof-said bar being at.e,-and the free end thereof. being movable under tension" of *a spring ef, to the position as shown in'Fig. 4.

wherein it is engaged within a portion of. 10'5" the circular slot ofthe locking rod D,w herecut-out portion a of the holder ortion A by to prevent longitudinal movementofthe said rod. In practice, a guard Fcovers the and the locked forward end oft erod 1),; i

the use of a key such as indicated at E in .110 Fig. 4 being necessary forthe purpose of- I unlocking the rod, said keyhaving a tubular shank g engaging upon the locked end of the rod D through an opening in the guard F,

and having an angular projection g ening rod D is indicated as in vertical aline-' ment with the supporting rod a, and while in a device such as at present shown, this locking rod is all that is required for the purpose, it is not by any means essential that there be only one. There may be two rods indicated at H and H in Fig. 3, although this arrangement serves to double the work of unlocking.

Thus from the foregoing it will be readily apparent that I provide a simple and efi'ective locking device which is particularly adapted to my own filing apparatus as outlined in my applications before referred to, and it may be further seen that it is not limited to use where the cards and holders are especially prepared in advance, but may be readily installed in connection with holders and filing apparatus which have been in prior use without the same.

I claim 1. The combination of a holder having one or more card supporting and holding members, cards having means whereby to engage said supporting members in a nonalined series, and a locking member engageable with each of the cards of the non-alined series whereby to prevent their removal, the said locking member having positive engagement with each card of the series whereby to prevent lateral displacement irrespective of the supporting members.

2. The combination of a holder having one or'more card supporting members, cards having means whereby to engage said supporting members'in a non-alined series, and each being provided with a plurality of openings adjacent one edge, and a locking rod adapted to pass through those openings which are alined through the series of cards.

3. The combination of a holder having one or more card supporting members, cards having means whereby to engage said supporting members in a non-alined series, and each being provided with ,a plurality of openings, equidistantly spaced from one another and arranged ina line adjacent one edge ofthe card, a rod movable through the holder and engageable through the cardopenings which are alined through the series, and means for normally locking the said rod against removal. V

4:. A file card having a plurality of equidistantly spaced recesses along one edge, and a plurality of equidistantly spaced openings, each of which openings is in alinement with one of said recesses adjacent the inner end thereof.

JOHN AUSTIN BEST.

Witnesses:

j R. A. TOOLE,

Row. J. MULHERIN. 

